Shoes with interchangeable, self-locking, snap-on uppers

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a system of footwear that is easily customizable and provides the wearer with a wide variety of removeable and interchangeable upper portions in various colors, patterns, shapes and styles, allowing the wearer to create numerous different shoe looks from the same, single pair of soles. The shoe design specifically comprises a base portion having numerous metal snaps with male connectors (ball heads) spaced at intervals along the sides. The corresponding female connectors are located on the undersides of the interchangeable uppers; the other side of the uppers, which can be seen while wearing the shoe, contains rounded metal caps.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A typical women's sandal design includes a base with straps extending over the toe, and sometimes a heel strap, both permanently anchored to the base of the shoe. Usually the ends of the upper straps are secured inside of the base, or between the base and the sole material, with nails, stitching, glue, or some combination of these elements. The straps are generally not removeable or interchangeable, and if one of the straps becomes frayed, worn, or breaks, the pair of shoes is no longer wearable and must be discarded. The present invention aims to fix this problem, as well as provide the wearer with a multitude of color and style options that can be changed out in a matter of seconds.

Some footwear styles currently exist with interchangeable upper portions, most notable flip-flop style sandals with Velcro-style closures. However, no such design yet exists for women's sandals involving a snap-closure system. Furthermore, the snap closures used in the designs outlined in this document lock securely once snapped into place, eliminating the risk of the removeable uppers coming off accidentally while wearing the shoe.

A number of patents have been filed for ideas quite similar to this one, but none of them are identical, nor as practical. These patents can be found under the USPTO classification A43B: “Characteristic features of footwear; parts of footwear”. Firstly, there is U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,621B2: “Shoes with removable and reconfigurable uppers”. This patent is distinct from the one described herein, because this shoe design uses “nail-shaped posts”, around which the uppers are attached via slits in the material, rather than snaps; these nail-shaped posts are mounted into the top (sole) of the upper, rather than onto the sides; and the illustrations and images corresponding to this patent, as well as the manufactured shoes made by the owners of this patent, are only flip-flop/thong-style sandals.

Next, there is US20030192205A1: “Shoes with interchangeable shoe covers”. This patent was abandoned in 2006 and is distinct from this one because the removeable uppers are only superficial, and there is a permanent upper underneath; also, these removeable uppers are attached with straps and not snaps. Then there is US20030192205A1: “Sandal system”, which is distinct from this patent because the upper is permanently mounted, with Velcro-style adhesive used to attach different colors/styles to this permanent upper. U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,564A, “Changeable shoe cover”, expired in 2015 and is distinct from this patent because it uses a hook-and-loop fastening system, and all illustrations show a loafer-style shoe design with an upper that is attached at all points around the periphery of the sole.

Australian patent AU2015303831A1: “Adaptable shoe”, describes a shoe design in which the entire sole can be removed from the base, and the shoe also has detachable heels to convert it from a flat to a boot, et cetera. U.S. Pat. No. 8,201,347B2: “Shoe construction with attachable components”, is more complicated than this patent. The uppers are simply pieces of fabric with holes in them; also, it appears that the interchangeable uppers have to be manually screwed in using small screws and a screwdriver.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,322,054B2: “Shoe with interchangeable strap system” is for thong-style and slide-style shoe designs; it is currently being used under a brand called Bandals. This invention consists of a continuous loop (probably with Velcro-style closure) that is threaded through a horizontal slit in the base/sole of the shoe, to interchange the color of the flip-flop or slide.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,834B1: “Shoe with interchangeable vamp and base”, says that the vamp and shoe base are “interlocking” but makes no mention of how this works; says magnets ‘may’ be used. U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,814B2: “Shoe with interchangeable snap heel” involves feeding a continuous strap through the base of the shoe. This patent is currently in use by Positive Lifestyle Bandals LLC (these shoes appear to have a foam sole and the uppers appear to have Velcro inside them).

U.S. Pat. No. 7,650,704B2: “Footwear system with interchangeable portions”, is likely the most similar to the patent described in this document, but it is distinct because it makes no mention of snaps, and also describes “interchangeable connector elements for connecting the upper portion to the base portion”; the patent described herein does have interchangeable connector elements. Also, unlike U.S. Pat. No. 7,650,704B2, the patent outlined in herein has no toe-separating (thong) element.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,445B2: “Locking mechanism for securing detachable shoe uppers” uses little metal bars to lock the upper straps into place, rather than snaps. Patent US20130091733A1: “Modular shoe system”, was abandoned in 2013 and is dissimilar in a number of ways. U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,441B2: “Sandal with interchangeable upper” uses hook attachments to join vamps to the base; it also mentions a toe-strap portion [this patent is set to expire in 2021]. U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,649A: “Interchangeable shoe” is expired and also includes an interchangeable heel component which is not a part of the patent described herein. U.S. Pat. No. 9,259,048B2: “Article of footwear with straps” involves threading the flip-flop-style upper straps through slits in the base; this patent also includes mention of a removable thong portion in the abstract. U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,442B2: “Convertible shoe and sandal” involves converting a flip-flop into a full closed-toe shoe.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,697B2: “Shoe structure provided with interchangeable vamps” details an invention in which “engagement pieces of the strap are removably retained in the strap slots of the retaining piece”; detailed description talks about “square shaped buckling devices” which are distinct from snaps. U.S. Pat. No. 8,307,570B2: “Attachment system for shoe uppers” uses elastic loops to attach vamps to the shoe soles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,935A: “Convertible high-style footwear” expired in 2002; this patent describes hook-and-loop style attachments of vamps to shoe soles. U.S. Pat. No. 7,810,257B2: “Article of footwear with removeable upper”, is owned by Nike; in this patent, the drawings show a closed-toe, athletic-style shoe; the vamp attachments here are little pegs that go into holes in the sole.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,157B2: “Sport sandal” expires Mar. 12, 2021; this patent involves straps fed through holes in the shoe sole that are secured with a Velcro-style attachment. U.S. Pat. No. 8,789,249B2: “Hidden-type convertible shoe” is described as “A shoe comprising a shoe upper including a male member and a shoe sole including a female receptor for locking with the male member”, which is different from the invention described herein, which has male members on the sole and female members on the uppers; also, US8789249B2 makes no mention of snap closures. U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,256B2: “Shoe with removeable vamp”, is owned by Vans; this patent details a slip-on style shoe which uses zippers to attach vamps to the shoe sole.

In conclusion, there are no patents currently in existence that are identical to the one described within this document.

REFERENCES CITED

U.S. patent DOCUMENTS 7,650,704 A January 2010 Richardson 8,230,621 B2 July 2012 Shmurak 2003/0192205 A1 October 2003 Linens 5,778,564 A July 1998 Kettner 8,201,347 B2 June 2012 Garza 8,322,054 B2 December 2012 Feller 7,698,834 B1 April 2010 Courville 7,162,814 B2 January 2007 Berg 7,219,445 B2 May 2007 Stern 2013/0091733 A1 April 2013 Klein 7,222,441 B2 May 2007 Smith, Alfino 7,222,442 B2 May 2007 Hillyer, Horton 6,895,697 A May 2005 Yang 4,267,649 A May 1981 Smith 9,259,048 B2 February 2016 Aveni 8,307,570 B2 November 2012 Delgatty 4,439,935 A April 1984 Kelly 7,810,257 B2 October 2010 Candrian, Kreuter, Steszyn 6,543,157 B2 April 2003 Pan 8,789,249 B2 July 2014 Pearce 6,874,256 B2 April 2005 Delgatty

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS AU 303831 A1 2015 Sethi

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention described in this document is a shoe system consisting of a base, which could be made from a variety of materials such as wood or hard plastic. Metal screw studs are placed at designated increments along the sides of the shoe base; each of these screw studs will have a ball head [male part] projecting out from its center. The matching metal upper [female] parts are located on the interchangeable shoe uppers (which could also be made from a variety of textile materials, such as leather or canvas) at increments corresponding to the spacing of the male parts along the shoe bases. The essential idea behind this invention is that the wearer can change out the uppers to be different colors (or patterns), various textiles (leather, canvas, etc) and different shapes and styles (criss-crossing straps, etc), all using the same pair of soles.

The following invention would be relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use, comfortable to wear, cost-effective and stylish. It allows the wearer to customize shoes to coordinate with an outfit and create multiple different looks out of the same pair of shoe soles. This increased versatility has the potential to save the consumer money and is environmentally friendly, as damage to one of the shoes' uppers does not necessitate throwing the entire pair of shoes out, as it would with a typical pair of shoes. The fundamental purpose of this novel footwear system is to allow the wearer numerous style, color, and design options in one pair of shoes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Exemplary versions of the invention described above are shown in the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a first version of a footwear system with a removeable, interchangeable vamp, along with a depiction of a second vamp option;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the same version of a footwear system, shown with a different vamp;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a second version of the footwear system of the present invention with a removeable, interchangeable vamp;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a shoe matching FIG. 3, showing the exposed snap bases without a vamp attached;

FIG. 5 is a lateral view of one of the snap bases mounted onto the side of a shoe base;

FIG. 6 is a back view of a third version of the footwear system of the present invention with a removeable, interchangeable vamp;

FIG. 7 is a top view of a fourth version of the footwear system of the present invention, showing the exposed snap bases without the removeable vamp;

FIG. 8 is a top view of a shoe matching FIG. 7, with a removeable vamp attached;

FIG. 9 is an example of a customizable set of several different removeable uppers that could be included with the shoe base at the time of sale;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the shoe base underneath a lateral view of the snap base, showing the attachment of the snap into the shoe construction; also a lateral view of the upper snap construction.

FIG. 11 is a cross-section of the upper part of an individual snap closure device, adapted from German patent DE 20 2015 104 203 U1, “Upper part of a two-part connecting element”.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following invention is a shoe system with removeable, interchangeable, securely locking uppers that attach to the shoe sole/base with metal snap closures. The invention described heretofore permits the wearer to customize her footwear with a variety of upper portions in a variety of colors, patterns, styles quickly and easily.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the footwear system, consisting of a shoe base 4, onto which a vamp 21 is removably attached by several snaps 1, each snap consisting of an outer washer 2 and a cap 3. The rear part of the shoe consists of an ankle strap 5, which is not a part of the invention heretofore described, but added for clarity of illustration, and a buckle 6 to secure it. Above the attached vamp 21 is shown another possible vamp option 8, also with several snaps 7 on each side to attach it to the shoe base 4.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of same shoe construction (see FIG. 1). The removeable upper 12 is attached to shoe base 11 by a series of snaps 10. The backstrap 13 and buckle 14 are also shown.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are a front view of a very similar pair of shoes (see FIGS. 1 and 2), with and without a removeable upper, respectively. The snaps 15 are shown arching around the front of the shoe base 16. Here, the shoes have a slingback-style heel strap 17. The exposed snap bases 18 can be seen on the front of the shoe base 19 in FIG. 4, along with a strap 20, the particular construction of which is not critical to the invention described herein.

FIG. 5 is a lateral view of a snap base 22 mounted onto a section of the shoe base 26. The base of the snap 23 is positioned on the side of the shoe base 26, with the ball mount 24 and its small neck 25 in the center.

FIG. 6 is a back view of a shoe construction similar to the other figures, showing a heeled shoe 28 with the removeable vamp 29 attached to the base 27 with a series of snaps 32, each consisting of the same outer washer 30 and cap 31.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a top view of a pair of shoes with a construction similar to those in the other figures, with and without the uppers removed, respectively. The ball mounts 33 can be seen slightly protruding from around sides of the shoe base 34. An exemplary ankle strap 35 and buckle 36 are also shown. The snaps 37 in FIG. 8 attach the vamp 38 to the base of the shoe 39; ankle strap 40 and buckle 41 are also shown.

FIG. 9 is an example of a customizable set of uppers/vamps that could be included with the shoe base construction at the time of sale; additional individual vamps could also be purchased separately. A simple vamp 42 and its snaps 43 are shown in the bottom left of the drawing; a vamp consisting of a crossed pair of straps 44 with snaps on each strap 45 is shown in the center; a vamp consisting of a crossed pair of straps 46 with a stylish pattern 47 and the requisite snaps 48 is illustrated in the top left of the drawing; another vamp 49 with a decorative bow 50 and snaps 51 is shown in the top right of the drawing; and a braided vamp 52 with its snaps 53 is shown in the bottom right.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the shoe base 63 (see FIG. 1) showing the screw 64 that mounts the snap base 62 into the shoe 63. The ball mount 60 sits atop a neck 61 on the snap base 62. Above the snap base is a lateral view of the upper part of the snap 56, consisting of the cap 54, several rivets 55 for structural strength, and the upper washer 57 with teeth 58 to hook into the vamp fabric. The inner, spring-loaded snap chamber 59 into which the ball mount 60 inserts is also shown; the lower washer is not shown in this figure for the sake of clarity.

FIG. 11 is adapted from the illustration in German patent DE 20 2015 104 203 U1, a utility patent filed by Schaeffertec in 2015, which [translated to English] is entitled “Upper part of a two-part connecting element”. The following is a translation of the description from the aforementioned patent (with the numbers in the figure altered for continuity within this document):

“The upper part of a two-part connecting element chosen as an exemplary embodiment has a base body 61, which is surrounded by a cap 62 at its upper end. On the end of the base body 61 facing away from the cap 62 there is a serrated lock washer 63, to which a threaded part 64 is attached. A clamping disk 65 can be screwed onto the threaded part 64.

At the end opposite the cap 62, the base body 61 has a jagged shape. As a result, teeth 70, 71 are formed, and these teeth 71 are crimped inward. The teeth 71 hold the washer 63 in place. The teeth 70, 71 also serve for clawing [fabric or leather] which is to be attached to the upper part. Above the teeth 70, 71, the base body 61 is adjoined to the cap 62 by a tapered element 72 which opens into a cylindrical section 73. At the end facing away from the teeth 70, 71, the cylindrical section 73 has an inwardly directed groove 74. The cap 62 is provided in its center with a hole through which a rivet 75 passes. The rivet 75 has a rivet head 76 which is adjoined by a circumferential groove 77. On the outside, the cap 62 is provided with a C-shaped border 78. A horizontally aligned section 79 of a sleeve 80 engages in the border 78. The sleeve 80 surrounds the cylindrical section 73 of the base body 61 in some areas.

The serrated lock washer 63 has an annular design. It is held in the base body 61 by the teeth 71. On the inside, the serrated lock washer 63 holds the threaded part 64. For this purpose, the threaded part 64 has a flanged end 81 which rests on the serrated lock washer 63. On the outside, the threaded part 64 has an external thread 82. The inside of the threaded part 64 is conical, as a result of which a taper 83 is produced in the direction of the end facing the base. The clamping disk 64 is screwed onto the external thread 82. The clamping disk 64 has a shell-shaped design. In its center is an opening which has an internal thread 84 that is used to screw onto the external thread 82 of the threaded part 64. A substantially horizontally oriented edge 85 is provided on its outer circumference, with which the clamping disk 65 rests against the [fabric or leather] in the assembled state. The clamping disk 65 is also provided with two bores 86, which are arranged diametrically opposite one another. The bores 86 are used for attaching a tool for screwing the clamping disk 65 onto the threaded part 64.

A dome 66, which extends through the cylindrical section 73 of the base body 61, is arranged in the base body 61. The dome 66 is in contact with the cap 62 at one end. The contact is brought about by a fold 87 which, in the assembled state, is positioned in the groove 83 of the rivet 81. A hollow cylinder 88 adjoins the fold 87. At its end facing away from the fold 87, the dome 66 has a circumferential and outwardly directed edge.

The dome 66 is surrounded by a tension spring 67. The tension spring 67 is supported on the one hand in the channel 74 of the base body 61 and on the other hand on the edge of the dome 66. In the base body 61, a spring element 68 is also arranged. At its end facing the cap 62, the spring element 68 has a ring 89 which, in the assembled state, is positioned in the groove 77 of the rivet 75. From the ring 89 of the spring element 68, three legs extend, which together form a hollow cylindrical section 90. At its end facing away from the cap 62, the spring element 68 has a spring socket 91 which is formed by the ends of the legs and which, in the locked state of the two-part connecting element, receive the mushroom head of the lower part.

A damping element 69 is arranged in the cylindrical section 90 of the spring element 68. The damping element 69 has the shape of a cylinder. In the exemplary embodiment, the damping element 69 consists of plastic. It is held clamped in the hollow cylindrical section 90 of the spring element 68 and its end facing away from the bottom rests on the rivet 75 of the cap 62. To operate the upper part, the user pulls the cap 62 upwards. By fastening the dome 66 and the spring element 68 in the groove 77 of the rivet 75, this pulling action leads to the lifting of the dome 66 and the spring element 68 against the force of the tension spring 67. When pulled up, the spring socket 91 expands due to its spring action along the taper 83 of the threaded part 64. This leads to an increase in the diameter of the spring socket 91, so that the mushroom head of the lower part of the two-part connecting element can be received or released. The damping element 69 prevents buckling, by being in contact with the legs of the spring element 68 within the hollow cylindrical section 90. This prevents the legs from buckling inwards. Outward buckling is also prevented by the hollow cylinder 88 of the dome 66, which is arranged immediately adjacent to the legs.

The invention creates an upper part for a two-part connecting element which prevents damage to the spring element 68 even when the spring element is subjected to high axial loads or when the upper part is placed on the lower part at an angle. Consequently, damage to the spring element by buckling is avoided even under extreme operating conditions.” 

1) A footwear system, consisting of a shoe base outfitted with metal ball-head studs mounted at intervals on its sides, onto which various vamps of different colors, styles and textiles can be attached using securely locking metal snap closures, allowing a number of different vamp styles to be interchanged in a short time. 2) Each of the aforementioned metal snap closures on the removeable upper vamps being comprised of a washer and a cap, with corresponding ball-head studs on the base of the shoe; a securely locking metal snap system, such as the one described in German patent DE 20 2015 104 203 U1, will be used to create these metal snap fastener parts. 3) The snaps do not come undone unless pulled directly out from the base in the same plane as the ball mount; they will not disengage if pulled out from any other direction. 